Limiting employees’ personal cell phone use at work

Q         Our company wants to implement a policy to limit personal cell phone usage only to break times. Can we ask workers to put their phones in their work lockers or on their supervisors’ desks?

A   You can definitely require employees not to have cell phones on their person during work hours and limit use of electronic devices to breaks. You can also provide a secure storage location, such as work lockers, for employees to use voluntarily. If you do provide the storage area, there’s a risk of theft of the employee’s property, so you should either have them sign an acknowledgment or have a poster near the lockers stating the company doesn’t guarantee the security of their phones or that their phones won’t be damaged.

Q         Should we allow bereavement leave for an employee to attend the funeral of her live-in boyfriend’s mother? Our bereavement policy covers employees’ mothers, fathers, siblings, children, grandparents, and in-laws.

A   You can allow your employee bereavement leave if you would like. You may have to offer the same leave, however, to other employees in the future who request bereavement leave for individuals not covered by your policy. Otherwise, they could claim unlawful discrimination based on the circumstances surrounding their bereavement request. For example, if you allow a Hispanic employee to take such leave but don’t allow a black employee to do the same, the black employee may have a claim for discrimination based on race in relation to fringe employment benefits.